[4pasnu]

I was thinking it might be beneficial to post of some "first crash" stories for the newbs. How did it happen? How long had you been riding? What did you learn? I'll start things off with my first asphalt kiss.

Okay, the year was 1997 about a month after I purchased my 1985 Ninja 900. I was driving around outer loop of the mall, going to my job at the time. Probably doing about 35-40 and some teenager made a left about 15ft in front of my, trying to hurry and get the parking spot she just spotted. :rolleyes
I grabbed a handful of the front brake and evidently pulled the right side of the bar as I grabbed the brake. Instantly washed out the front end of the bike. The bike slid out to the left and had me sliding into the back of the car. I hit the back tire and it knocked the wind out of me. This girl actually drove up about ten parking spaces to get that spot she was eyeballing as I lay in the road trying to catch my breath. A little rash on my arm and leg, but that was it.
What I learned from that was to respect that front brake. I have had to brake pretty abruptly a couple of times since then and twice I had the front try to lock up. I know now once you feel that tire start to break traction ease up on the lever and not to jerk the handlebars what-so-ever.

Anyway that was mine, since then I have only been done one other time on my Gixxer 600. That was due to some oil in a parking lot, very embarrassing.

 

[cbcinnovations]

Thinking the road was clear ten minutes before when I rode down it. Come back and its covered in gravel around a blind curve. Took it to the grass and dumped it before a barbwire fence.

 

[nibbs]

me over thinking. i had read so much about how terribly slippery metal and paint lines can be in the rain. i was leaving a stop sign turning left and was headed right at a man hole. i was under the assumption that is was going to put me down for sure so i tried going wide around it. ended up going to wide and ended up right against the sidewalk. so both wheel were rubbing against the curb as i was slowly riding along. i probably rode for 15feet and couldnt turn away from the curb. then went down onto the sidewalk. rashed up the right side of bike and got some good road rash on my right knee.

 

[Hagios]

Running over a branch in a blind corner and having my front wash out

 

[Maynard_002000]

rain and too much front brake

 

[bomma]

Inexperience.

17 years old on a Yam RD250, I saw the tractor and trailer about 200 yards away, I was doing about 60, had no idea about braking distances and just crashed into the back of the trailer.

Both arms broken and a full face helmet saved my face. I'd been riding about 8 weeks, we didn't have compulsory training back then .

 

[Rascus]

Inexperience, over-confident, too much front brake, a combination of of newbie mistakes.

 

[Anti-Hero]

Inexperience, period.

 

[styleboy]

Anyone can say inexperienced.. why don't you tell us what actually happened?? :nerd

 

[Mantis]

Overconfidence with a touch of speed and oil. Hit an oil spot on the road and lost the front. Luckily the guardrail stopped me from sliding.

 

[LiterTwin]

*knock knock knock*

Believe it or not, in my 13 years of riding on the street, I haven't crashed. Not once.

I've ALMOST died a hundred times, but never actually gone down. I guess that means I'm screwed, as statistically, I am a whole lot more likely to crash now than the rest of you. Ack...

 

[ithicaplasma]

Commuting to work on a city street, I approach a long line of cars stopped at a redlight. I was riding in the center of the far left lane and decided to split between the stop cars. Before pulling between lanes I look over my right shoulder to watch out for any riders that were already splitting lanes coming up behind me. Coast was clear so I look forward and the pickup truck infront of me was already stopped, I was doing maybe 15 mph or so. Instead of braking I decided that I could still slip between the truck and the car to the right if I turned hard enough. I begin the turn and target fixate on the back of the truck, in a panic I decide I am going too fast and I grab a hand full of front brake. The bike immediately dropped to the right and I was on the ground in a heart beat. Broke a mirror and turn signal as well as my ego. I was so embarrassed after the fear wore off I picked up that 460 lb bike like it was a paper weight and rode off.

Lessons learned:

1)If you get on the front brake hard when leaned over your going down, and going down fast. guaranteed
2)if your planning on splitting lanes ride near the side you are going to split on before you do it, this tells the cagers and any riders behind you what your intentions are once traffic slows enough, and you avoid having to make a sharp slow speed turn
3)If your not 110% sure you can make the maneuver don’t try it, “I think I can” will get you killed, you need to know you can
4)Motorcycles are heavy

 

[WesR6]

inexperienced... 80yr old man pulling out in front of me because he didn't see me but what made it worse is that he finally did see me and stopped his car across both lanes. I proceeded to hit his front wheel and then became superman.

Second time was peagravel in a corner.

Wes

 

[jiffy]

Drunk driver that was also high on heroine and was carrying an illegal firearm. Rear ended a car that then rear ended me. He didn't even hit the brakes and was estimated at a speed of 55 mph. Helmet saved my life.

 

[Lexcruiser]

ARGH. This was embarrassing.
First day out on my new bike... I rode it out of my garage, down my driveway, made a right onto my street. Rode down to the stop sign, made a left onto the next street, target fixated on the far curb, thought I was going faster than I should making that left, butt puckered, grabbed front brake, dropped like a sack of turd.

Luckily, my Hein Gericke pants saved my knees from the impact w/ the ground, and rash from the asphalt. Bike was (amazingly) fine only scratches on the foot peg and the tip of the clutch lever. Picked up the bike like it was a paperclip and walked-of-shamed it back home. Distance traveled ... 500ft, but that walk felt endless...

 

[teg]

I was thinking it might be beneficial to post of some "first crash" stories for the newbs. How did it happen? How long had you been riding? What did you learn? I'll start things off with my first asphalt kiss.

Okay, the year was 1997 about a month after I purchased my 1985 Ninja 900. I was driving around outer loop of the mall, going to my job at the time. Probably doing about 35-40 and some teenager made a left about 15ft in front of my, trying to hurry and get the parking spot she just spotted. :rolleyes
I grabbed a handful of the front brake and evidently pulled the right side of the bar as I grabbed the brake. Instantly washed out the front end of the bike. The bike slid out to the left and had me sliding into the back of the car. I hit the back tire and it knocked the wind out of me. This girl actually drove up about ten parking spaces to get that spot she was eyeballing as I lay in the road trying to catch my breath. A little rash on my arm and leg, but that was it.
What I learned from that was to respect that front brake. I have had to brake pretty abruptly a couple of times since then and twice I had the front try to lock up. I know now once you feel that tire start to break traction ease up on the lever and not to jerk the handlebars what-so-ever.

Anyway that was mine, since then I have only been done one other time on my Gixxer 600. That was due to some oil in a parking lot, very embarrassing.

so what happen afterward ? did her or her insurance pay for the damages ?

 

[bob12312357]

A couple of days ago hit an oil slick in a rainstorm. Was traveling in a straight line and the front just washed out sudden as hell.Went down faster then a virgin on prom night.Highsided then got hit by bike. The soft foam back protector you get in the cheap jackets are useless thank god i had on an upgraded one. Saved me from more then a lil soreness in knees and back.

 

[Spike]

Came into a corner too hot, was braking going in but kept running wide so I just dumped it away. Problem was that the front of the bike hit a huge drainage pipe (residential neighborhood) and basically totalled the bike, I was only going about 25 at the time.

had been riding about... 6 months when it happened. I'm still not sure exactly why it happened, I'd gone around that corner a million times and that particular time didn't seem like I was going to fast. Maybe I got spooked and didn't lean it over far enough.

 

[KevinCBR1k]

Making a left through an intersection after a 4 way stop up in Flagstaff...hit some black ice. No damage except my ego. Good thing that rebel 250 wasn't very big and I was able to pick it up quickly.

 

[hozhead]

Me having no clue how to ride a bike combined with a very non-user friendly control setup on the YZF-600R I was riding. The brake and clutch levers were setup too high so you basically had to move your hand off the grip completely to reach for a lever. I needed to slow down a bit in a decreasing radius corner and when I tried to grab the brake lever to gently apply the front brake, the weak throttle spring and sticky gel grip led me to gas it while I was already going too fast (only about 30 mph) in a corner.

If I had more than 1 hour experience at the time, I would have just leaned a bit more and taken the corner with ease. Plus, I would have set the controls up MUCH better.